As 'Top Kill' fails, BP spill costs near $1 billion

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- As BP's latest attempt to stop the flow of oil from a ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico failed Saturday, its costs related to the spill began to approach $1 billion.

Prior to the scrapping of the "Top Kill," effort, BP said Friday its costs have totaled $930 million to date. That includes expenditures on the spill response, containment, relief well drilling, grants to the Gulf States, claims paid, and federal costs.

BP has a 65% stake in the project. Anadarko Petroleum (APC, Fortune 500) and Japan's Mitsui hold the rest. BP has claimed responsibility for the disaster, but it's not clear yet if it will have to pay all the costs.

Investors believe BP (BP) will get hit pretty hard. They've sent its stock down nearly 30% since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20. Analysts have thrown out a wide range of estimates -- from $4 billion to $25 billion -- on how hard the incident will hurt the company's bottom line.

BP has not put a figure on ultimate costs, because it does not when the spill will be contained, how much damage it will do, and what will happen to the lawsuits it faces from workers injured in the blast or from the families of victims of the blast who died.

The company's new solution effort, the Lower Marine Riser Package (LMRP) Cap Containment System, has never been tried before at these depths. It will take three to four days to put into play and has no guarantee of success.